Pentagon's Bomb-Fighters: Temps, Well Paid (Updated)

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Pentagon's Bomb-Fighters: Temps, Well Paid (Updated)

Just about everyone in the national security establishment agrees that improvised bombs are going to be the terrorist weapon of choice for a long, long time to come. And just about everyone agrees that the U.S. hasn't found any sort of definitive defense against the explosives – if there's a definitive defense to be had, at all.

But what no one can seem to agree on is how to handle the threat. For each of the last several years, the Defense Department has poured $4 billion into the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO. The group has made some important strides – funding next-generation jammers that have largely stopped radio-controlled bombs in Iraq, for instance. But Congress has been unhappy with the group, complaining about JIEDDO's "exponential growth." And even insiders say the group has a "strategic flaw." So the question is: Should the Pentagon make JIEDDO a permanent organization, or just a temporary one, to help out with Afghanistan and Iraq?

For now, Inside Defense reports, the answer is: temporary. ThePentagon has decided against "institutionalizing" the JIEDDO within the department. And that's despite the backing of some of the DefenseDepartment's most powerful figures. DeputyDefense Secretary Gordon England, for one, called for the institutionalization of the organization in his list of Pentagon’s "25 top transformation priorities."

Congress – which, for a while, was considering cutting JIEDDO's baseline budget by 75% in the end wound up fully funding the group for next year. Inside Defense notes:

*Last week, House and Senate conferees agreed to set aside $4.77 billion for JIEDDO, but demanded an independent review of the agency’s activities, including what it has accomplished, feedback from warfighters and the tools and processes in place for self-evaluation.

“The conferees remain concerned about the effectiveness of JIEDDO and its ability to effectively coordinate the Department’s and intelligence community’s response to the improvised explosive device and asymmetric threats faced by the warfighter in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the associated report says.*

UPDATE: How well paid? I just talked to a perspective JIEDDO employee who's looking at $15,000 per month. Which ain't bad for government work.